Lieutenant Niki Quotes in The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

Lieutenant Niki: Remember what Napoleon said before he went to Elba: "So long."

Col. Rockoff: Lieutenant, I'm here on a very confidential mission. Her highness, the Princess Anna, wanted to talk to you, but before talking to you, naturally she took up the matter with her father, His Majesty, the King. His Majesty, the King, decided that Her Highness, the Princess, should not talk to you first. On the contrary, you should first talk to Her Highness, the Princess. But before talking to the Princess, His Majesty the King wants you to talk to him, so that he can give you permission to talk to the Princess. But then we all got together and had a little talk, and came to the conclusion that, under the royal Flausenthurm etiquette, you, being an ordinary lieutenant, cannot do the talking at all. You understand?

Lieutenant Niki: Perfectly. May I ask what you are talking about?

Col. Rockoff: In one word, Lieutenant: Please don't *you* propose to the Princess.

Lieutenant Niki: But I never intended to! And I never will!

Col. Rockoff: [shakes hands with him] Thank you! Congratulations!

Lieutenant Niki: As a gentleman I say: "Thank you!"; as a Viennese I say: "Moo!"

Lieutenant Niki: Do you know whom she reminds me of? Your wife.

Max: Oh, wait a minute! Oh, this girl is beautiful!

Lieutenant Niki: See, here.

Max: No, no, no, you're crazy.

Lieutenant Niki: Just picture your wife - fifteen years younger, twenty pounds lighter, her hair dyed, her nose operated on. The same girl.

Lieutenant Niki: When we like someone, we smile. But when we want to do something about it, we wink.

King Adolf XV: When you winked at my daughter, were your intentions honorable?

Lieutenant Niki: They were.

King Adolf XV: Well, then naturally you'll marry her.

Lieutenant Niki: My intentions were dishonorable!

King Adolf XV: Then you'll have to marry her!

King Adolf XV: Let me tell you, that schnitzel came from an imported Viennese cow.

Princess Anna: Imported especially for you.

Lieutenant Niki: Poor cow. To start life in Vienna and end it in Flausenthurm.

Princess Anna: Married people don't wink?

Lieutenant Niki: Yes. Yes. They wink, but not at each other!

Princess Anna: Well, what's the use of getting married?

Lieutenant Niki: All the philosophers, for 3,000 years, have tried to find that out and they failed. And I don't think we'll solve that problem tonight. Good night.

Max: Oh, she's so beautiful! And what a figure she has! Mmmm. And Niki, you should see her fingers. Oh, she has the daintiest little fingers! She plays the violin, you know.

Lieutenant Niki: What does she do?

Max: She plays the violin. And how! She's the leader of a girls band in a beer garden. I've just come from there. Oh, Niki, Niki I've got to meet her! Oh, but, I've got to be so careful because I'm a married man.

Franzi: So, you play the piano?

Lieutenant Niki: Mm-hmm.

Franzi: Someday, we may have a - duet.

Lieutenant Niki: I love chamber music.

Franzi: Perhaps, tomorrow night we could have dinner together?

Lieutenant Niki: Oh, don't make me wait 24 hours. I'm so - hungry.

Franzi: Well, perhaps, then, we could have tea tomorrow afternoon?

Lieutenant Niki: Why not breakfast tomorrow morning?

Franzi: No. No. First tea and then dinner - and then - maybe - maybe breakfast.

Lieutenant Niki: [singing] Breakfast time - it must be love. You, put glamor in the grapefruit. You put passion in the prunes!

Franzi: [singing] I'm gone - when you invade the marmalade.

Lieutenant Niki: And, you, put magic in the muffins!

Lieutenant Niki, Franzi: Breakfast time - it must be love!

[Next scene, a steam train coming out of a tunnel]

Franzi: Tell me, Niki, is the Princess a blonde or a brunette?

Lieutenant Niki: To tell you the truth, I don't know.

Franzi: Darling!

Franzi: Oh, you see Niki, it's not that I'm jealous; but, someday you may meet a girl.

Lieutenant Niki: Nobody can play the violin like - you!

Franzi: Oh, darling.

Lieutenant Niki: What's the use of being married to a Princess, if you cannot use the police department.

Lieutenant Niki: [singing] I found, at home, ra-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta, ta!

Lieutenant Niki: [SInging] I found, a new, commander to obey. I must report, for duty, right away. She'll never pension me.

Princess Anna: [Out-of-sight] Ra-ta, ta-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta, ta...

Lieutenant Niki: Toujours, l'amour, in the army...

[Marches back to the bed chamber]